Buzzy
Buzzy is the protagonist of the former Epcot attraction Cranium Command. Background Development Cranium Command started development as "The Head Trip" and would have featured three pilots representing Emotion, Intellect, and the Nervous System, with a loose space travel theme to the interior of the head. "The Head Trip" changed to a military theme and took on the names "Brain Command" and eventually "Cranium Command". The three pilots were merged into a single character named Captain Cortex, who would have been more confident and cocky then the shy bumbling Buzzy of the final product. This change came late enough that several Wonders of Life-inspired educational films still used the Captain Cortex version of the character. When the attraction closed, Buzzy was left alone in the theater, earmarked for eventual storage in the Walt Disney Archives. In late December 2018 however, the animatronic was stolen. Animatronic theft The combination of lax security in Epcot and internet buzz around a continuous rumoured resurgence of Cranium Command, Buzzy became a point of interest for Urban Explorers in 2018. Across early 2018 a number of UEs entered Cranium Command to see Buzzy, most notably his red tag sentence (i.e, the mark of an animatronic to be moved to the Disney Vault) and curiously, sometime after August, a new set of clothes. After years of abandonment, it seemed that imagineers were once again tending to the old attraction, which sparked many fans' curiosity. In November 2018, fans uncovered a police report filed by Disney for Buzzy's clothing, including his red jacket, green hat and hands. The report was originally dated in August 2018, providing reasoning for the new outfit. Curious, some UEs re-entered Epcot to discover that Buzzy had been removed from his seat, with his hydraulic wires and mechanics severely cut and hacked. Many took to the internet to express their concern for the animatronic's safety, and made a bid for any updates. Theories quickly emerged, naming suspects inside and outside of Disney corporation and posing that Disney themselves had unceremoniously placed Buzzy in the vault. For months, there was silence from both Disney and police as to Buzzy's whereabouts or any confirmation he was truly stolen. In May 2019, police confirmed an arrest warrant for Patrick Allen Spikes, a former Cast Member who ran the Twitter account @BackDoorDisney. According to the arrest warrant Spikes had been a person of interest since the clothes theft, with reports of alleged pictures of the clothing in his car found on his phone. He denied any association with the theft when the police originally searched his home in December 2018-January 2019. On the 12th of May, days before his arrest, Spikes posted a picture of Buzzy's decapitated head to Twitter, with the animatronic missing his hair, glasses and eyes. It was then officially confirmed by police that Buzzy had been stolen, but his whereabouts remained unknown. With Spikes arrested, police uncovered images from his phone that also provided evidence for other Disney attraction thefts, including the theft of 11 Haunted Mansion pieces with a worth of $7,218. Spikes faces criminal charges of burglary, grand theft and dealing of stolen property but is yet to be the confirmed kidnapper of Buzzy. Buzzy's stolen clothing and other items sold by Spikes were eventually found in October 2019, having been purchased by Milwaukee Bucks player Robin Lopez, who did not realize the items were stolen when he bought them. Appearances Cranium Command Buzzy is an awkward young Cranium Command recruit singled out by General Knowledge as possibly not being fit to pilot a human brain. However, on his first day of the job, Buzzy is assigned to "the most unstable craft in the fleet": a teenage boy named Bobby. Assigned to get Bobby through a day and work with the various organs of his body, he finds himself in over his head with the pressures of tests, school bullies, and crushing on girls before calming down and learning to "use your head, not lose your head". Walt Disney World Explorer A sprite of Buzzy (in his original red costume) appears on the map of Epcot representing the Wonders of Life pavilion. Gallery Buzzy Early Costume.jpg|An earlier costume design for Buzzy Early Cranium Command Designs Mural.jpeg|Early design for Buzzy and General Knowledge on a mural in the MetLife Corporate Lounge. buzzy-icon.jpg|Animated Buzzy buzzy vinylmation.jpg|Vinylmation figure Captain Cortex.png|Captain Cortex in the Wonders of Life educational film shorts DxJ9KNbVAAAtcD7.jpg Category:Commanders Category:Theme park characters Category:Males Category:Pilots Category:Captains Category:Military characters Category:Protagonists Category:Heroes